But the South Side resident has added a new responsibility to her job as a home child-care provider: union recruiter.

Casey, 51, is one of an estimated 1,000 home day-care owners who have taken a step that just years ago seemed unimaginable: joining the Service Employees International Union Local 880 and fighting for respect in a profession that has long been isolated, devalued and underpaid.

"I don't feel I'm alone out there anymore," said Casey, a grandmother who left behind a long career as a nursing assistant three years ago to launch her home business. "It's a tough sell, trying to get other day-care owners to join a union. But I sit down and let them know what the union can do--they can step in when you have problems with your licensing rep or find yourself not getting paid. We're getting much more respect than we've ever had."

The goals of the local SEIU are ambitious: to increase state day-care reimbursement rates, to secure affordable access to health insurance and ultimately to win collective bargaining rights for the state's 10,000 home day-care operators. No other state has recognized day-care owners as a bargaining unit, although unions have been slowly building day-care membership in California, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and Texas.

The Illinois SEIU local has been buoyed by the political clout it enjoys with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose campaign received about $800,000 from the union and its members. The union also hopes to capitalize on a key victory earlier this year, when Blagojevich signed an order allowing the state's 20,000 home health-care workers to unionize.

"It's a new day," said SEIU field organizer Brynn Seibert. "Home child-care workers have been organizing for the past five to six years, but we've picked up a lot of momentum recently. And as far as organizing is concerned, it's a very new industry. These operators may legally fall under the classification as independent contractors . . . but there are other issues in which providers deserve to have a say. The state is definitely a factor in the livelihood of these day-care providers."

Union membership has proved most appealing to the 5,000 home day-care owners who care for low-income children and rely on state subsidies for part, or nearly all, of their income. Licensed home day-care operators provide care for more than 20,000 low-income children in Illinois each month--two-thirds of whom live in Cook County.

These state-subsidized providers have not received a raise since 2000, and few would argue their reimbursement comes close to providing a decent wage. The state pays providers about $21 a day in the Chicago region to care for infants--or about $2 an hour for a typical 10-hour day.

Studies by the Illinois Department of Human Services suggest this reimbursement covers only about 35 to 40 percent of the average market rate charged by providers in the six-county area. The federal goal is that the reimbursement should pay about 75 percent of market rates. A proposal that would have increased state reimbursement by 15 percent died in committee during the last legislative session.

A statewide day-care advocacy group agrees that the profession needs more money and a stronger voice but questions whether a union is the appropriate advocate for home business owners.

"We consider ourselves to have a positive relationship with SEIU and work together on common policy issues," said Maria Whelan, executive director of the Day Care Action Council of Illinois, which administers the state's subsidized child-care program for Human Services. "We agree the reimbursement is not adequate and has not been adequate for years. Unfortunately, [the solution] is very expensive."

Whelan said it was unclear what the union can do for its child-care providers. "Financially and legally, family child-care home providers operate as independent small businesses without any identifiable employer," she said.

Alma McIntosh knows her profession falls into a murky area, but she still feels strongly that union representation is the only way to gain an independent voice for professionals willing to care for the state's most vulnerable children. A former hospital technician who got into the business 20 years ago, McIntosh cares for 12 children in her Southwest Side home, all of them qualified for state subsidies.

In a good year, she gets about $45,000 from the state--monthly checks out of which she must pay her two assistants, buy food and supplies and maintain her home. This delicate balance works only when the state doesn't lose her paperwork or delay her checks. She gets no paid sick days, holidays or vacation. She can't afford health insurance.

Despite the obstacles, McIntosh's role as a union steward inspires her about the future of her profession.

"I felt like I was fighting a losing battle before I got involved," she said. "The union has really made a big difference for me."